Search engine optimization (SEO) is an ever-evolving market. And many people want to learn how to make money as a freelance SEO writer and marketer. However, if you want to start an SEO multimedia agency, take the time to read this article for a few tips on mindset, marketing, and sales.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: 5 STEPS TO HAVING THE BEST SEO MARKETING STRATEGY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

 

To Be Successful, Maintain the Right Mindset

 

The most vital thing to remember is that you are a disposable commodity as a freelancer. This means you must maintain the right mindset. Don’t allow yourself to become complacent in content production. Remember that your client is always right. When it comes time to shave their budgets, the freelance SEO will be the first to go. You must have a plan B even when Plan A is working out for you in the short term.

 

You must also learn to focus your mindset on business strategies. In other words, maintain a 70/30 profit margin. Just as your clients have budgets, so should you. This means you have to be mindful of not overstepping your profit potential for any reason. When you’re focusing on profit, you must put the needs of your business first. This will help you establish boundaries, policies, and procedures.

 

A Freelance SEO Must Also Be a Marketer

There is much competition on the SEO market. That said, not all SEO companies have the ability to rank on the first page of search engines. If you want to market your business successfully, practice what you preach. To do that, show prospective clients how highly you rank. If you have never ranked with keywords, you are not an expert. Therefore, do not claim to be an expert until you have the results to prove it.

 

Generate Sales Organically

 

Sales leads do not just pop into your email. For every lead you miss, your competition will gain. When it comes to SEO, established experts understand the value of outbound leads and take advantage of them. When that happens, the market gets smaller for you. Sometimes, it is the agency that responds first that gets the work. Therefore, if you want to generate more leads, try these tips:

• Open an email address solely for leads that have push notifications.
• Respond immediately to inquiries.
• Have a designated routine with your company’s benefits so you can sell your services.
• Follow up on sales leads every time you do not hear back.
• Prepare for calls by determining a set of questions to value client potential, such as:
  • Has the client engaged in SEO in the past? Local? National?
  • What marketing campaigns does the company currently engage in?
  • Is the client interested in services like social media management or PPC?

 

You Have One Chance

You will only get one chance to show prospective clients your value. Therefore, you must make sure that every moment counts.

However, when you set up a system for lead generation, sales, production and retention, you have a system in place that works. You will learn with experience that search engine marketing is about smart decision-making. You will also find that with hard work and a committed attitude the rewards are worth it.

This post is written for beginning bloggers, so we’re going to start at the very beginning.

A blog is a kind of website that focuses on written content. Each entry is called a blog post. The word “blog” is a hybrid of the words “web” and “log.”

From a personal perspective, a blogger writes. Their writing allows bloggers to connect directly with their readers. Some blogs contain a comment section where readers can respond to whatever the blogger has written. This interaction between reader and blogger provides feedback for the blogger and the sharing of ideas for everyone involved.

From this direct connection derive several benefits of starting and maintaining a blog. For instance, it allows you to develop trust with your reader. Trust opens the doors to making money with your blog.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: BLOGGING: THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT BEFORE YOU START

 

How to Start a Blog

Beginning bloggers might be wondering where to start.

It’s not that difficult. You can easily learn how to create a blog in five steps. By following these simple steps you will be able to start a blog in about 20 minutes or so.

1. Select something unique to write about and pick a suitable name for your blog.
2. Choose a blog host and register your blog.
3. Write and publish your first post.
4. Choose innovative ways to promote your blog.
5. Get creative and find ways to monetize your blog.

The most difficult thing for beginning bloggers—or a seasoned ones, for that matter—is making the time to maintain a blog over time. Post regularly if you want to have regular readers. People are always hungry for new content.

 

What Type of Blog Will You Have?

People love reading about others’ interests and hobbies. Do you have a unique hobby? Are you interested in a topic that’s currently hot?

On the other hand, just about any topic will do. You can choose to write about cars, sports, fashion, travel, cooking, and many other topics for your blog. Beginning bloggers have plenty of topics to choose from.

However, before you choose a topic for your blog, be sure to study the trends. If you can write about something that’s trending now, you’re sure to attract a wide audience.

 

For Example, Create a Food Blog

Are you fond of cooking? Which food blogs do you follow? Can you provide a new twist on some old favorite dishes? Have you inherited authentic recipes from an older person in your family? Have you studied nutrition? Can you write about cooking and eating for gluten-free, vegan, or Paleo diets?

Lots of people browse online when they want to find something new and intriguing to make for dinner. Just try it yourself. You’ll find that scrolling through all those mouthwatering photos and recipes on the food blogs is a tempting activity.

Beginning bloggers who want to write about food should study plenty of food blogs before they dive in. Once your mouth is watering, be sure to stir your blog into that hearty mix.

On the other hand, if you’re not all that into cooking, there are plenty of other topics beginning bloggers can write about, as we mentioned earlier.

 

 

Here’s How to Get Started

Check out this quick tutorial for creating your new blog.

Be sure to define your mission statement in one of your earliest blog posts. Additionally, remain true to this vision whenever you create a new post. This clear voice and sharp focus is vital to accomplishing your goals with your blog.

Also, be choosy when it comes to picking a name for your blog. You want to attract attention but still remain professional. What’s more, you need a name for your blog that’s descriptive of what you’re about.

Above all, aim for creating unique content that is based on innovative ideas.

 

Beginning Bloggers Need Simple Blog Hosting

Choosing the right blog host is one of the most important elements for making your blog well known online.

Beginning bloggers will want a web hosting platform that is easy to set up and maintain. However, you’ll also want a platform that allows for flexibility. After all, as you gain experience as a blogger, your blog will surely change and grow over time.

Competent marketers recognize the importance of smart SEO strategies. Such strategies are essential for growing a loyal audience, increasing site traffic, and accelerating conversion rates. What’s more, what it takes to optimize landing pages for top keywords—a central piece of SEO—has changed fundamentally. This has been true ever since Google implemented its RankBrain algorithm. Therefore, it’s becoming increasingly important to develop new SEO strategies for better SERP rankings.

SEO, by the way, stands for “search engine optimization.” And SERP stands for “search engine results page.” We’ll get into more details about both in this article.

 

What Is the RankBrain Algorithm?

RankBrain is Google’s machine-learning artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm. Google uses it alongside its other human-engineered algorithms to sort search results.

The RankBrain algorithm looks at SERP’s for various keywords. Then it tweaks the importance of such ranking signals as backlinks, domain authority, content length, and so on. These tweaks result in different SERP’s. The RankBrain algorithm then analyzes how searchers interact with the new results. If they find the new SERP displays better content, RankBrain keeps the changes. If not, it reverts back to the old algorithm.

The point of these exercises is to provide searchers with more useful results.

When RankBrain makes tweaks to SERP’s, certain pages will get more attention. When that happens, those pages rise in the rankings. If searchers find any particular page not to be useful, RankBrain will replace that page on the SERP with a different page. The RankBrain algorithm will then analyze how that page performs.

 

How Does RankBrain Determine If Searchers Like the New Results Better?

Here are a few of the ways in which the RankBrain algorithm determines if searchers like the new results better:

• Organic click-through rate
• Time on page
• Bounce rate

Before implementing the RankBrain algorithm, Google displayed SERP’s simply by matching words in a search query to words on an individual page. With RankBrain, the AI attempts to learn what the words mean together. In other words, the RankBrain algorithm tries to understand the intent of the keywords, including the context. This results in more fruitful search results for the searcher.

 

 

How Does the RankBrain Algorithm Affect Optimizing Keywords on Landing Pages?

Before RankBrain, the most commonly agreed-upon and effective SEO keyword targeting strategy was to build many different landing pages. Each landing page was then optimized for a number of different long-tail keywords.

For example, an SEO strategy for optimizing a travel blog would be to create one landing page targeting “best hiking routes in Hawaii.” Another landing page would target “best hiking trails in Hawaii.” After that, Google would rank each of the landing pages for their individual long-tail keywords.

However, since Google implemented RankBrain, the Google algorithm now understands that these long-tail keywords are essentially the same. The RankBrain algorithm therefore delivers almost identical SERP’s for both phrases. This makes it ineffective to optimize around long-tail keyword phrases anymore.

 

New Strategies: Optimizing for the RankBrain Algorithm

In short, instead of optimizing landing pages for long-tail keywords, SEO strategies should target mid-tail keywords. Below is a screenshot from Ahrefs showing keyword difficulty, cost per click (CPC), search volume, and other metrics for six keyword phrases related to “New Zealand Hiking.”

 

 

As expected, the shorter keyword phrases have significantly higher search volume than their long-tail counterparts. In the past, these mid-tail keywords would be more difficult to effectively target. In other words, it would be more difficult to break into the top three search results by using them. However, with the introduction of the RankBrain algorithm, these mid-tails present a new opportunity. That is, they allow SEO’s to target more generic, mid-tail keyword phrases. Now, when they do, the Google algorithm understands their intent.

 

How Do I Decide the Best Mid-Tail Keyword to Target?

There are myriad SEO tools and metrics that you can use to analyze keyword viability. To name only a few, there are SEMRush, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Brightedge.

However, one brilliant strategy involves something much more basic. That is, conduct some simple Google searches yourself with a single keyword phrase. Then compare broad-match results, exact-match results, and the total number of both for that phrase. It’s also useful to compare the domain ratings for first-page SERP’s during the comparison process. This will give you an idea of how difficult it will be to rank highly.

For example, using the “New Zealand Hiking” search metrics above, you’ll notice that the two most searched phrases are “New Zealand Hiking” and “Hiking in New Zealand.” These two phrases average 600 and 450 monthly searches respectively. Compare this with the 150 or fewer average monthly searches for the remaining keyword phrases.

 

How to Use This Deceptively Simple Method

Therefore, the first step in deciding which keyword phrase to target is to perform a Google search using one of the phrases you are considering. Then perform another with the same keyword phrase in quotes. Finally, compare the number of broad match and exact match search results.

The first thing you might notice is that the keyword phrase “New Zealand Hiking” has significantly fewer search results in both broad and exact match instances. This is despite its having an average of 150 more searches a month than “Hiking in New Zealand” (600 vs. 450).

On the surface, this simple comparison shows that there is more search volume and less competition and saturation in the “New Zealand Hiking” SERP. This points to this particular keyword phrase as the better choice. However, before we draw any final conclusions, it’s important to analyze the sites ranking on the first page for each of the keyword phrases. This will allow us to determine what their domain authorities are, and how our site stacks up in this space.

 

Here’s an Example

Below is a screenshot from Ahrefs showing the first page SERP’s for both “New Zealand Hiking” and “Hiking in New Zealand.”

In this instance, and likely because of the RankBrain algorithm, the SERP’s are nearly identical, with a few exceptions. Because of these similarities, you could choose a mid-tail keyword based on overall number of results displayed, contrasted against average monthly search volume. In this example, that proper choice would be “New Zealand Hiking.”

 

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO CREATE A WEBSITE DESIGN THAT EMPOWERS YOUR SEO EFFORTS

 

Optimizing Landing Pages to Generate Maximum SERP Positions Will Increase Traffic and Give You More Conversions

Well targeted keywords is an important factor in raising your SERP rankings, increasing site traffic, and having more conversions. However, without well optimized landing pages much of your hard work can go unnoticed. In that case, growth can be slow.

However, Google has provided SEO marketers with tools that help the web spiders better understand what the on-page content is all about. First and foremost among these tools is schema markup.

 

What Is Schema Markup?

Schema markup, also known as structured data markup, is a vocabulary that you can add to a wide variety of encodings. These include RDFa, JSON-LD, Microdata, and others. Every page on your site that can have schema should have one.

Depending on the type of page you wish to mark up, whether it be product pages, informational content, blog posts, or anything else, Schema.org provides a selection of items and associated properties that you can add to the HTML/CSS of your page. These items will help Google’s web crawlers better understand the intent and purpose of your content.

The better Google understands your content, the more likely your content will rank higher. Below, you can see an example of schema markup for a blog post from Instasize entitled “5 Ways to Utilize Instagram Stories to Boost Sales.” Notice how the markup code is nested above the <h1>, between the <div> and <script> tags.

A Detailed Explanation

This is best explained by the Moz blog in a post entitled “Unlocking Hidden Gems Within Schema.org”:

“When you first enter a Schema.org item type’s page, notice that every page has the same layout, starting with the item type name, the canonical reference URL (currently the HTTP version*), where the markup lives within the Schema.org hierarchy, and that item type’s usage on the web.

“An item type is a piece of Schema.org’s vocabulary of data used to annotate and structure elements on a web page. You can think about it as what you’re marking up.

“At the highest level of most Schema.org item types is Thing (alternatively, we’d be looking at DataType). This intuitively makes sense because almost everything is, at its highest level of abstraction, a Thing. The item type Thing has multiple children, all of which assume Thing’s properties in a cascading hierarchical fashion (i.e., a Product is a Thing. Both can have names, descriptions, and images).”

You can find a visual representation of schema’s hierarchy in the image below.

Image courtesy of technicalseo.com

One of the easiest starting points for acquainting yourself with schema is to use the schema generator from Merkle. Using the Merkle schema generator is fairly simple. Just choose a type of markup from the drop-down menu.

Once you’ve chosen a markup type, you’ll be prompted to fill in various fields. Then the schema markup code will be automatically generated in the right field.

Once you’ve filled in all the necessary fields, copy and paste the auto-generated schema into Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool. Make sure the code is functioning properly, then paste the code above or below the <body> tags of your page.

 

Targeting Featured Snippets to Rank Above First Position for Top Keywords

A featured snippet is a box that appears above all results for various question-and-answer based queries. Below is a screenshot of a search for, “Are dogs colorblind?” Here you can see a short paragraph with an answer pulled from one of the pages listed in the SERP.

(Note: Featured snippets only pull from the top 10 results of any given SERP. Therefore, you must already rank 1-10 for a specific keyword phrase to be eligible for a feature placement.)

With more and more SERP’s for similar search queries returning similar results because of the RankBrain algorithm, the chances of securing a featured snippet across multiple similar queries has greatly increased. This could create a massive traffic and conversion boon for sites with savvy SEO practitioners who are willing to invest time in targeting featured snippets.

 

How to Target Featured Snippet Opportunities

Featured snippets appear for a wide array of search queries. What’s more, they can increase page visibility, conversion rates, and traffic to your site. So how do you go about targeting these opportunities?

Most of the time, though not all, featured snippets appear as an answer to question-based queries. Let’s say you run a food blog and have posted an article about making spaghetti and meatballs. Further, your targeted keyword phrase is “spaghetti and meatballs.” Of course, the quality and thoroughness of your content is a major factor in determining if Google will pull your information into a featured snippet. However, how you organize and label your content is also important.

 

Use Headings with How-to Formats

Therefore, instead of using simple headings, try writing some of your headings in how-to format. For example, you could make your first H2 something like, “How to Make Spaghetti and Meatballs.” As an example of this, notice the screenshot below showing the SERP’s for two similar queries. The first search for “spaghetti and meatballs” returns without a snippet. However, “how to make spaghetti and meatballs” returns with a snippet pulled from a Youtube video.

 

One of the best ways to generate this type of headline is with answerthepublic.com.

Answer the Public describes itself as a “free visual keyword research and content ideas” tool. It can provide you with a wide range of useful data. For example, entering a simple keyword phrase into the search bar returns multiple lists of related question-based, preposition-based, and comparison-based search queries. Check out the example below using the keyword phrase “spaghetti and meatballs.”

You can use the results from this page to brainstorm a question-and-answer style headline. This can greatly increase the chances of your content being pulled into a featured snippet.

Other factors Google seems to like when pulling snippets is content built in lists or html tables. What’s more, your content needs to be free of grammatical errors.

 

Snackable Takeaways: Creating Traffic and Conversion Rate Growth with Actionable SEO Strategies

1. The RankBrain algorithm has changed the way we look at keyword targeting. In short, it forces us to reorient the focus from long-tail keywords to mid-tail keywords.
2. As the RankBrain AI continues to learn and further understand the meaning of keyword phrases and their context, semantic variation of similar queries will matter less and less. That’s because they largely return identical results. This causes SEO marketers to shift focus. That is, SEO strategies should now primarily be about ensuring that everything you publish is evergreen and of only the highest quality. In other words, chasing keywords will no longer work.
3. Schema markup is relatively simple. What’s more, in today’s SEO climate it is an absolute must if you want to remain competitive for your top keywords.
4. With more and more SERP’s for similar search queries returning similar results because of the RankBrain algorithm, you have a much better chance of securing a featured snippet across multiple similar queries.
5. Targeting featured snippets by optimizing your on-page content can propel your top landing pages to the very top of Google SERP’s. This greatly increases your pages’ overall visibility, site traffic, and conversion rate.

 

About the Author

Sam Schuler is an SEO strategist at Instasize.

When you’re running a business, it’s easy to get caught up in everyday tasks. For example, sales, marketing, and customer service require your continuous monitoring. You need to pay attention to product development and human resources as well. However, you want to steer your business toward your major financial goals. Therefore, it’s important to keep a close eye on the finances of your venture, too. To that end, there are some key business metrics you should be tracking.

Of course, you’ll watch cash flow. You’ll also look for ways to cut costs and increase profits. Therefore, you need to handle relevant accounting tasks.

However, you should also spend time each month examining the main finance-related metrics of your business. Tracking these key business metrics will help you to spot potential problems. Better yet, you can learn about existing problems before they become major ones. All of this will make it easier to see which areas have the best potential for growth. What’s more, tracking key business metrics will give you insights for better strategies going forward.

Most online graduate degrees in the business field detail this side of business management thoroughly. Therefore, they are worth exploring for this benefit alone. Nonetheless, there are some key business metrics you can start tracking today. Read on to find out more.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: 4 STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE YOUR ONLINE MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

 

Customer Acquisition Cost

One of the first things you need to know is your customer acquisition cost (CAC). This refers to the amount you have to spend to acquire each new client. This is an important metric. That’s because it shows you if you’re spending too little or too much on your marketing and sales strategies.

Once you’ve determined your CAC, you can decide whether the amount you’re budgeting is right for your business. The items that go into this metric are things like advertising, search engine optimization, events, giveaways and the like. This key business metric varies significantly from business to business. Moreover, the customer acquisition cost usually goes down as organizations grow and build a more recognized brand name.

To work out your CAC, divide the total amount you spend on customer-building strategies in a set amount of time (for example, a month or a year) by the number of new clients you land over that same time period.

 

Lifetime Value of Customers

Another key business metric that relates to your customer acquisition cost is the lifetime value of customers. This metric also helps you analyze your marketing and sales budget. The term refers to the net profit you will receive from your clients over the course of your relationship with them.

The lifetime value indicates the repeat business you’ll get from shoppers over time. As a result, it helps you to know how much money is sensible to spend on “buying” each new customer. The higher the lifetime value, the more you can outlay. That’s because you’ll have more chance of earning this money back.

You can determine the likely lifetime value of customers in your venture. To do that, take the average value of your sales (that is, how much on average clients spend per transaction), and then multiply this by the number of repeat transactions you get per customer. Multiply this total by the average time period you retain a typical client.

 

Client Loyalty and Retention Rates

You won’t likely achieve the business results you’re after if you don’t spend time thinking about ways to continually improve client loyalty and retention rates. In other words, you need to consider how long you can keep a customer around. The more loyal a client is to your business, the more likely they will keep buying from you again and again as the years go by. In most cases, they will also purchase in larger quantities or at higher transaction amounts.

Customer loyalty also leads people to recommend you to their friends, family members, and other contacts. In turn, this helps you obtain new customers in an affordable way. This word-of-mouth advertising is invaluable.

 

 

If  you have a high “churn” rate, this means that most people only ever shop with you once and never return. In this case, you probably have various problems with your business that need to be addressed immediately. For example, your product range or quality could be low. Or, your customer service might be lacking. Likewise, your shipping times may be too long.

As you can see, it’s vital that you analyze retention rates regularly. There are a few different methods of measuring this metric. For example, you can send out customer surveys. Or ask clients for direct feedback when they purchase from you. Alternatively, you can examine transactions to work out what percentage of customers buy from you after their first purchase. It also pays to determine the average number of times customers spend money with your firm. Additionally, calculate the average amount of each transaction. Then look to see if this changes over time.

 

Keep Your Hands on the Wheel by Watching These Key Business Metrics

Pay close attention to the key business metrics we have discussed here. Then use the insights they give you to steer your business toward greater success.

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Research has shown that the number of people suffering from workplace stress is at an all-time high. This probably comes as no surprise considering how competitive the job market is these days. As a matter of fact, it seems that more people are pushing themselves to the limit so as to achieve more on a daily basis.

 

Signs of Workplace Stress

A small amount of workplace stress is normal. However, excessive amounts can soon start to affect your physical and mental well-being. This can disrupt your life at home and even mean the difference between success and failure in your career. Therefore, it’s important to recognize the signs of stress so that you can deal effectively with them.

You might be experiencing workplace stress if you feel:

• Irritable and wound-up
• Depressed
• A sense of dread
• Anxious or afraid
• Unable to enjoy your social life
• Lonely
• Unable to switch off

Additionally, stress may start to affect you physically, in ways such as:

• Constant tiredness
• Muscle tension
• Headaches
• Chest pains
• High blood pressure
• Insomnia
• Panic attacks
• Feeling sick, dizzy, or faint

 

 

Some Tips for Managing Workplace Stress

If stress is becoming an overwhelming part of your life, affecting your work performance or personal life, then it’s time to take action. Therefore, here are some ways you can begin to regain a sense of control.

 

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Be Positive in the Morning

Your mornings might be filled with a sense of dread. Perhaps you have knots in your stomach and a feeling of hopelessness. However, feeling stressed about work in the morning is only going to make you more reactive to workplace stress later in the day.

Instead, make an effort to get up early. Take a relaxing shower and eat a healthy breakfast. Then you should find that you’re walking into work feeling a little more positive.

 

Know What Is Required of You

Being unclear about the ins and outs of your role can make you feel more workplace stress than necessary. If you feel that you’re not doing enough at work, for example, ask your manager for feedback. Ask about areas where your manager feels that you could improve. Working on these improvements will lift some weight off your shoulders.

 

Stay Organized

Sometimes the biggest stress inducer at work is a complete lack of organization. Failing to be organized with your time will mean you’ll be rushed in the mornings. You’ll feel under pressure with deadlines and struggling under the weight of a cluttered desk. Instead, sit back and consider how you might be able to organize your time more efficiently. That might even mean asking to reduce your working hours.

 

Avoid Conflict and Unwelcome Confrontation

Interpersonal conflict can encourage symptoms of stress. Therefore, if you work in an office where conflict between coworkers is often difficult to avoid, try to stay clear of these people. Additionally, avoid gossip or office humor that might offend. In instances where conflict is impossible to avoid, keep a clear head. Look toward conflict resolution strategies.

 

Make the Most of Your Breaks

Think of your lunch hour as a time to escape. If you can, leave your place of work and go for a walk to clear your head of anything that might have happened during the day. Spending eight hours a day sitting behind a desk will affect you in more ways than you might think. So take this chance to do a little exercise to help to lift your mood.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: 7 WAYS EXERCISING CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

 

You Can Master Your Workplace Stress

Workplace stress is a normal part of modern day life. However, you don’t have to allow it to overtake and ruin your life. Take control now by making use of these simple tips.

Image Credit: Thomas Angermann on Flickr

A business never collapses without cause. The crash is nearly always preceded by a tiny detail that managers overlooked for a while. The reverse is true for a company’s success. The bottom line is that you need to think through every little thing. That is, you need to ensure that every aspect of your company works efficiently at full speed with every other aspect. That’s why you need to know about these killer free tools before you start your new business.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: GET THE TOOLS YOUR SMALL BUSINESS NEEDS WITHOUT GOING BANKRUPT

 

The Internet is loaded with resources. Many of these resources are focused on helping entrepreneurs solve the seemingly endless issues they face. For example, some of the free tools we offer here will help you to organize your work. Others will aid you in promoting your business.

On the other hand, if you’re not careful, you could end up wasting your time with tools that are inconvenient, poorly executed, or, frankly, “buggy.” That’s why we’re offering this list here. We want to draw your attention to some excellent free tools for your business. Further, we have compiled a selection of resources, such as https://www.customwriting.com, that will help you to optimize and launch your business.

 

SugarCRM

CRM stands for “customer relationship management,” and SugarCRM is among the best. This online CRM platform provides you with multiple opportunities to create and monitor your relationships with your customers.

Among its many functions are events, calls, appointments, tasks, notes, and personnel lists with contact details. But wait. There’s more, including a common calendar, contacts, counterparts, and preliminary contacts. The transactions function includes both potential orders and invoices. The appeals function allows you to describe important situations. There’s also a Bug Tracker and more.

You can try it for free before choosing one of the paid subscriptions.

 

MailChimp

Marketers love MailChimp. That’s because the application automates such activities as scheduled e-mails, bulletins, and targeted campaigns. For small companies, the service is free.

 

Buffer

Buffer gets five-star reviews for its efficient social media management. It allows you to link all your social media accounts in one place. Plus, you can schedule automated posts to your accounts as well. The service is free for one Twitter account, one Facebook page or profile, and one LinkedIn account with up to 10 updates in your scheduler.

Image Credit: Tuncay on Flickr

SlideShare

You can upload ready-made presentations in PowerPoint, PDF, Keynote, and OpenDocument formats to SlideShare. Then click on the link and give your presentation wherever you happen to be.

 

Zoho CRM 

When you place a call to a client or prospect with Zoho CRM, you’ll see almost everything about that person. This will help you to interact with them more authentically. And that will naturally lead to more sales.

Among Zoho’s advantages:

• Detailed documentation
• Responsive technical support
• Convenient integration

 

Drupal 7 

If you need to build a website, you need Drupal 7. Among its benefits are easy translations and a large number of plug-ins. What’s more, you’ll find that your site will be easy to edit, even after it’s up and running.

Drupal 7 is convenient to administer. Plus, it’s an open-source platform, so it’s absolutely free.

 

Join.me

Of all the web conferencing services, Join.me is probably the easiest to use. The service works well for both Windows and Mac. To use it, just go to the Join.me site and press the orange share button.

You won’t even need to register unless you want to use one of the paid versions.

 

 

Hootsuite

Manage multiple social networks, schedule posts, and interact with your followers with Hootsuite.

Built without using Flash or any other weighting technologies, this service is available for all popular browsers and multiple operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. You won’t need to install anything, either, which allows you to save space on your own system. What’s more, Hootsuite works well with multiple browser plug-ins.

 

Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI will keep you abreast of developments within your company. Dive deep to further study the data in each of the application’s reports about your company. (The “BI” in its name stands for “business intelligence,” after all.)

Further, you’ll be able to creatively combine multiple data sets as well, so as to provide yourself with a visual of all the data you need in a single place.

 

H5P.org

With H5P.org you can select any existing template and create interactive content. Then you can embed that construct in a web page or into a series in a learning management system (LMS).

All its components are made in an HTML5 format with the additions of JavaScript and CSS styles, allowing users to easily study the content on any device.

 

Take Them and Run

Use this article as a handy guide as you look for ways to streamline your operations, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in business for a while. When you find free tools that work for you, take them and race with them toward your company’s success.

Have you decided that earning an MBA will help you be a better entrepreneur? If so, you’re going to have to choose a personal essay topic for your application to graduate school.

 

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Every applicant is wondering, as you are, what essay topic they should choose. Each of them wants, as you do, to succeed and enter the university. Regardless of the fact that an essay is limited in scope, it plays an essential role in your application.

What theme should you choose that will provide insight into your worldview? How will you leave a deep impression and easily stand out from other applicants?

You may ponder this conundrum for hours, considering this essay topic and that one. However, as the application deadline draws near, you might consider asking for professional help at CustomWriting.com.

If you haven’t yet reached that point of desperation, however, we have some advice for you.

 

Avoid These Essay Topics

Choose a topic that will allow you to frankly illustrate the person you are. At the same time, pick a topic that reveals your creative potential. To help you in this process, we offer here some essay topics that you definitely should avoid.

1. A description of your family’s business

Obviously, you’re proud of the profession your family is engaged in. Perhaps you would even like to follow in your parents’ footsteps. However, this topic won’t show an admission board much about you, yourself. There’s no guarantee, for instance, that you are going to turn out to be the seasoned professional your parent has become. What’s more, talent isn’t always genetic. Instead, write about yourself, your aspirations and achievements, not someone else’s.

2. Your role model

When applicants describe their parents, grandparents, coaches or teachers, members of the admission board have nothing to go on. At the very least, write about the influence one or another person has made on your life. Better yet, avoid this essay topic entirely. Focus instead on telling your own story. (Yes, you do. You have a story. Everyone does.)

3. A story about a natural disaster

When they’re reading an essay, admission board members want to learn about you. However, your story can get lost in the details if you’re describing a natural disaster, even if you happen to have been there when it happened. For instance, a story about a hurricane and the impact it had on your family will not necessarily reveal your personality.

4. An essay on your sport or creative achievements

Even if you’re an accomplished athlete, or you have won awards for your talents in any field, be careful when choosing this essay topic. Be sure to describe your character traits and indicate how they helped you achieve your goals.

 

 

Do This Instead

It is absolutely essential that you be honest, whatever essay topic you choose.

At the very least, do your own work. No one knows your story the way you do. Additionally, get to know the school you’re applying to, and make your statement specific to that school. Let the admissions board know specifically why you want to attend their school. Some experts recommend taking at least three months to write your personal statement.

When admission board members read your paper, they will expect to get to know you. Let them know about your aspirations and your goals. Help them to know you as a person so that they can evaluate your skills.

 

 

Ask for Help with Your Essay Topic

If you still don’t know which essay topic you should choose, ask for help from a professional writing service. Experienced authors can provide you with essay topics on a variety of topics from literature to politics. What’s more, you’ll have your essay topic quickly. Then you can write a personal statement that will leave a good impression on the admissions board, and you will easily enter the university of your choice.

Businesses handle huge numbers of invoices on a daily basis. What’s more, organizing and extracting the information from those invoices is often critical.

A program such as PDFelement ensures that you don’t have to organize and list invoice data manually. This top-quality software allows you to seamlessly extract invoice data. It does this by automatically recognizing valuable details before storing them in the proper database.

A single processed invoice is priced at a minimum of $15. Automatic invoice data extraction software lowers this cost by more than $10. This can save you tens of thousands of dollars, especially if your company frequently handles large numbers of invoices.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: 3 PIECES OF BUSINESS SOFTWARE FOR STARTUP OWNERS TO CONSIDER

 

Why Do You Need Quality Multiple Invoice Extraction Software?

The best multiple invoice extraction software has critical features for capturing details automatically from scanned invoices. Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, the solution will identify prints and colored texts on documents. Then it matches them with information saved in the data center. Invoice details you can select from include date, digits, amount due, order number, vendor name, items bought, and others.

The system is engineered to accurately extract information from invoices with no glitches or errors. Reduced invoice extraction time and top-notch accuracy saves organizations expensive manual processes that take a lot of time. Companies are then able to have a streamlined invoicing and accounting approach.

 

How to Extract Data from a Scanned PDF File

With a tool such as PDFelement, you can easily extract data from your PDF’s. In the process, you can easily rearrange and organize data on your desktop.  In PDFelement, for instance, you can create a form template. Then you can extract data from diverse identical scanned forms into a single easy-to-use spreadsheet.

Step One

Open the scanned PDF form and directly drag and drop it into the program. Alternatively, you can simply choose it. In PDFelement,  “Open File” and then browse across the PDF forms you have saved on your PC. Upload the proper one.

Step Two

Click the “Form” tab and then “Data Extraction.” Choose “Extract data from the marked PDF.”

 

Step Three

Create a template quickly by tracing all the areas you would like PDFelement to recognize as valid form fields. For example, in the sample below, we would like to extract “Time price” and “Total price.” Therefore, we noted the corresponding name in the Properties on the left side. As a result, the software will extract data from those fields into a spreadsheet.

Once you have created the template, save those settings, using a unique name so you can easily remember the document for future use. Once you’re finished, click “Yes.”

Step Four

PDFelement supports extracting forms in batches.

Once you have selected the forms you need, click “Start.” This will begin the extraction of the data into a single CSV file. (If you like, you could simply drag the file into the open window instead.)

Then click the “add file” button. Add as many identical scanned forms as you would like.

 

Step Five

End by clicking “Finish.” Then access and verify that all the scanned forms you needed to extract are intact.

Click on the video below to see these steps in detail. 

How to Extract Multiple Invoices to a Single File (CSV)

Step One

Click the “Form” tab in PDFelement. Next, click the “Data Extraction” toolbar icon. This is similar to the last guide.

Step Two

Choose to “extract data from PDF form fields.” In the window that comes up next, click the “add files” button. Then add as many identical multiple invoices or forms as you want.

Step Three

Click “Start” and PDFelement will extract information from each of the multiple uploaded invoices in seconds. It will then add this information into a single organized CSV file.

Step Four

Click “Finish” to complete the process. Immediately review the extracted data.

 

How to Convert an Excel File into a Fillable PDF Form

PDF forms or tables aren’t always as fillable as you might want. However, you can use PDFelement’s automatic form recognition functionality to easily convert your PDF into a fillable form, quickly and automatically.

Step One

Begin by opening the PDF document you want to convert into a fillable form in PDFelement. Click Create PDF. Here you have the option of selecting a form template among other templates already in the system. Open the template you prefer.

Step Two

You’ll want your form fields to be recognized automatically. Set this up by clicking the “Form” tab. Then click “Form Field Recognition.” This will allow the tool to detect forms and automatically create the fillable fields you need.

 

Step Three

Right click on every button or field to select the properties that you want. You can set such characteristics as name, color, appearance, and others for the fillable fields. Choose properties and select as needed from the icons on “Text Field Properties.” Choose from among such choices as “Appearance,” “Options,” “Actions,” “Format,” “Validate,” and “Calculate.”

Step Four

Once you have selected all field properties as you want them, click the “Close Form Editing” tab. Now you can begin filling the form. Or you can send the form to individuals for them to fill. When people you send it to have software for PDF Reader that supports opening a PDF document, filling the form will be easy and fast for them.

 

Conclusion

PDFelement allows you in very few seconds to convert Excel files into fillable PDF forms, extract multiple invoices to a single CSV file, and extract data from scanned PDF files. Now it offers free and premium options, including the popular free invoice templates the company offers to subscribers of their YouTube channel.

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As the sun starts to shine, many employees start thinking about a summer break. But for business owners, staff time off during the summer can be fraught with difficulty.

That’s because summer can be a busy and profitable time for many businesses. However, it’s also the time most staff want to take a sizable chunk of their annual leave allowance.

Banning or restricting leave at busy times is legally possible. However, that will do little to nurture a positive culture. More likely it will lead to disgruntled staff. Some good employees might even decide to leave. But letting too many employees take holidays at the same time will almost certainly leave your business flagging.

This could mean delays in meeting customer orders and less efficient customer service. Moreover, disgruntled staff will have to work harder and longer hours to take up the slack.

Therefore, managing staff time off during the summer holiday season needs to be fair. Here are our five top tips for fair and efficient holiday management. Implement these tips to keep your staff happy and your business on track.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: 4 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR EMPLOYEES HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER

 

1. Develop a Clear and Fair Annual Leave Policy

Annual leave during the summer, especially during the school holidays, can be a contentious issue. This can be especially true if you have several staff with school-aged children. In that case, they might all be jockeying for the same few weeks off.

How you manage staff time off will depend on your business. If summer is your busiest time, you will have to factor that in to your annual leave policy.

Conversely, is your business is able to operate with minimum staff during the summer holiday season? If so, use that to your advantage. As a matter of fact, some manufacturing industries shut down for two weeks in summer.

Some Questions to Consider About Staff Time Off

You will need to consider the following questions:

• Do you prioritize leave requests for those with children who need to take their leave during the school holidays?
• Should you adopt a first-come, first-served annual leave policy?
• Do you prioritize leave for special events?
• Will you enforce any restrictions on staff time off at your busiest times?

Prioritizing one group of staff over another group isn’t generally conducive to good employee relations. A first-come, first-served policy is probably the fairest option. However, that option works in favor of those who are more organized.

No Right or Wrong Answer

There isn’t a right or wrong answer to any of these questions. The fact remains, however, that not everyone can have their leave request approved for exactly the same weeks of holiday.

How you handle holiday requests will depend on the size of your business. A small business with just a few staff can’t afford to have more than one or two people off at the same time. Bigger businesses can be more flexible.

Developing a rotation system for key holiday periods, like school holidays, is probably the fairest option. ACAS (the UK Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) offers good guidance on managing staff time off, including rights and responsibilities.

 

2. Plan Ahead with Staff Rotation Software

Understanding your staffing requirements and planning ahead are key. The best way to ensure you have your finger on the pulse when it comes to annual leave and staff cover is to invest in decent staff rotation software.

Good staff rotation software (such as Planday) will enable you to manage rotations and deal with leave requests much more efficiently. You can also set a limit on the number of staff who can be off at the same time. Choose software that has an app so staff can see their schedule at any time, check leave availability, and make leave requests.

 

 

3. Learn from the Past and Forecast

If last summer was your busiest time, then you know to plan ahead. You may have to limit leave requests. You might also need to offer flexible working arrangements to those with childcare issues. Perhaps you’ll even employ temporary staff to get you through the holiday season. Learn from the past and forecast so you don’t make any of the mistakes you made in previous summers.

 

4. Maintain Good Communication

Whatever your approach to staff time off during the summer months, good communication and transparency are paramount. Staff rotation software can help. If all staff have access to a digital holiday calendar, they can plan accordingly. When summer holiday leave booking is problematic, get your team to sit down and discuss the options.

 

 

Involving your staff in the decision-making process will make them feel like they have a say in the solutions. Be prepared to think of alternative solutions. For example, if one member of staff gets priority on leave booking, make it clear that someone else gets priority next time.

 

5. Be Flexible About Cover

Consider hiring in temporary staff during your busiest times. This will ensure you have full cover when some employees are away on holiday. You may also want to consider offering more flexible working arrangements to anyone who has drawn the short straw and has to cover.

 

Conclusion

Plan, be clear on your annual leave policy, communicate, offer transparency, and be flexible. When you do, you will avoid the pitfalls of efficiently and fairly managing staff time off during the summer holiday season.